


what comes after 3

by bashbabe



Category: Mighty Ducks (Movies)
Genre: Apologies, Friendship, Gen, Making Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24492346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bashbabe/pseuds/bashbabe
Summary: fulton and adam have a moment in the weights room. set right after d3. title comes from an original song by me.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	what comes after 3

adam shifts his water bottle in his hand before reaching for the door. the weight room definitely wasn't his most frequented location at eden hall, but the rink was closed for maintenance and a run sounded good. the weight room was mostly weights, obviously, but the few treadmills it did house were good for the less muscular athletes of eden hall. adam banks was one of those less muscular athletes.

the weight room was mostly used by the football team, who weren't the nicest to hockey players, so adam was always a little apprehensive when he decided to go for a run. he was planning on turning around and going back to his dorm if he did run into the football players, but he was pleasantly surprised when he opened the door and didn't see anyone else. until he turned and saw the one person he had been trying to avoid.

fulton reed stood close to one of the corners, headphones on, curling a dumbbell that adam didn't think he would be able lift with both hands. adam backed up and prepared to make a hasty exit, but when fulton looked up and saw him then adam knew he was caught. he stood awkwardly while fulton set the weight on the ground and took his headphones off. "i've got one more set and then i'll be out of here," he said, not meeting adam's eyes. "so don't worry about leaving." shit. so he had seen him try to leave.

adam tried to backtrack. "you don't have to leave just because of me," he said, "i'm just going to go for a run, so i'm not even going to be anywhere close to you." that came out a little more wrong than he meant it to, but oh well. fulton already hated him, what was one more?

"no, it's good. i can't do much without a spot anyway, and i've already done pretty much everything i can do." fulton shrugged. "i'm not leaving because of you." not that adam would have blamed him if he had been.

"where is your spot?" fulton tilted his head, confused. "uh, i mean. where's portman? why isn't he spotting you?" fulton pulled a face at that, rolling his eyes and curling his hand back around the weight.

"does everyone think we're joined at the hip or something? jesus christ," he said, suddenly agitated. adam flinched. fulton somehow noticed. "sorry," he said, cringing. for some reason, adam was surprised he had noticed, and even more surprised he had apologized.

it's not that adam was afraid of fulton, necessarily. it was just that they'd had their differences, even at twelve years old, and who could ever forget when a guy twice your size throws you into the garbage? not that adam hadn't deserved it, but it still resonated in his mind every time fulton was the slightest bit mad. and he still couldn't forget the 'prank war', which he strongly suspected was mostly fulton's idea. adam didn't hate him, he just got the feeling that fulton just didn't like him anymore.

even though he was the first person to really welcome him onto the ducks, and they were friends all through the goodwill games, after the whole varsity debacle adam suspected that all the resentment fulton had for him back when he was a hawk had come back with a vengeance. especially because it seemed that fulton had taken adam's place as charlie's best friend after the divide. adam wasn't jealous (well, wasn't still jealous) at all, because now adam had charlie again and portman came back, so fulton had his best friend again, but adam honestly couldn't tell if there were any hard feelings because of that still.

speaking of best friends. "i was just wondering because working out together is kind of your guys' thing, right?" adam shrugged. "i just thought he'd be with you." fulton opened his mouth, then shut it again, like he was trying to figure out what to say. adam had the thought that the conversation would be a lot more awkward if either one of them was good with words. the only reason it wasn't is because they understood each other that way and knew better than to take anything said at what it sounded like. both of them had a penchant of getting words mixed up and not having them come out the way they meant them to.

"we had a pretty bad argument after class. i came here to blow off some steam." adam nodded. while the bash brothers were so close it was hard to tell them apart sometimes, having that much similarity and being so close to each other all the time was liable for disagreements. adam wouldn't have been concerned if those disagreements hadn't seemed to be happening more often.

"everything good with you guys?" adam asked carefully. fulton shrugged.

"yeah, we've just got some... different thoughts about stuff. it's no big deal, really." he grinned at adam. "you know us, give it an hour and a nirvana album and we'll be all set." adam cracked a smile. they really were predictable when you thought about it.

fulton picked up the weight to put it back on the rack and adam took a step towards him. "if you needed a spot, i can spot for you if you want. i could always run after you're done." fulton set the weight next to the others on the rack and turned back to him.

"banksy, man, i appreciate the offer but..." he looked as if he was trying to choose his words carefully. "i don't think you'd really be able to, uh. do much." adam must have had a really confused look on his face, because then fulton said bluntly, "you're a twig."

adam could feel himself blushing as he tried to find the words to say to that. "oh," is what he lamely chooses. "i hadn't thought about that." fulton laughed. adam couldn't remember the last time he had made fulton laugh.

"it's good man. it's the thought that counts, right?" adam laughed at that, and then they went back to awkward silence. he tried not to think about the fact that just a couple years ago they were best friends. he turned to go put his stuff on the closest treadmill, but before he could, his eyes fell on the school record board for weights. fulton's name was in the second place spot for bench press.

he whirled back to face fulton. "you have a school record?" fulton looked at him from where he was tying his hair into a ponytail, surprised that adam even noticed.

"uh, yeah," he said sheepishly. "i spent a lot of time in here back when... well. back when everything was shit." the way fulton looked when he said it made adam wish he hadn't asked. back when everything was shit? adam suddenly realized he didn't know the half of what the ducks had gone through that year.

"...how bad was it?" he cringed at the sound of his own voice, asking something that he was too nervous to ask charlie about. fulton looked at the ground.

"it was pretty bad, man. you should have seen charlie. it was like he turned into a whole different person." the way he said it made adam want to cry because he felt so bad. he didn't think he had ever heard fulton talk that soft. "it's not really my place to say anything, but i don't think any of us want to see that side of him again."

adam shifted awkwardly. he knew it was his fault, everything about that year was. he just wondered if everyone blamed him for it as much as he blamed himself. "...do you guys still hate me for it?" he asked softly. fulton frowned.

"i don't think anyone hates you," he said. "i think that everything happened all at once, and it was just bad timing. but no one blames you for it."

"i just thought, i don't know. after the prank war and everything..." fulton grimaced and sighed as soon as the words 'prank war' came out of adam's mouth.

"what we did to you was so shitty, dude. i feel so bad." he rubbed a hand across his face. "we were... stupid, and mad, and we just lumped you in with all of those other varsity assholes without even thinking about it." adam shrugged and grinned.

"well, i was kind of an asshole." fulton blinked at him, surprised.

"so... you don't blame us for that?"

"i mean, i definitely blame you for doing it, since you guys actually did it, but you guys had valid reasons. i was mad when it happened, but..." he trailed off. "i figured out that being with my team again was more important than holding grudges over some ruined gear and some stupid bug bites." fulton grinned at that, and adam felt like he needed to joke with him, just to make it feel like old times. "besides, seeing cole and riley squirm around while screeching like little girls was pretty funny, even while getting bit by fire ants."

fulton laughed at that, full and deep and adam didn't realize how much he missed that sound, how much he missed their friendship. "so... no hard feelings?" fulton asked, mostly joking but adam still heard a little bit of nervousness in his voice. adam shook his head.

"definitely not." he moved in for a hug before realizing how sweaty fulton was. "i would hug you, but..."

"no you wouldn't." adam laughed, and fulton grinned before looking down at his watch. "hey, i know you were going to go on a run, but pizza sounds pretty good right now..."

"you're on."

fulton grabbed his bag. "let me shower first, you wanna invite the rest of the team?" adam nodded.

"hell yeah, you think goldberg can break his record?" fulton laughed.

"i'll ask him about it. what was it last time, one and a half?"

fulton rested his arm on adam's shoulder as they walked out the door and down the hallway, laughing like they used to back in middle school. it was good to be back.

**Author's Note:**

> the ending kinda sucked so i apologize, but i love the idea of this friendship and i had to write this.


End file.
